Not Alone
by CrimsonSkyez
Summary: The desire to belong somewhere and to do the right thing is sometimes enough to bring people together, especially when determination factors in. A look at how Ryuuta struggled to be part of the Ouendan, and a reflection of when history repeats itself.
1. Chapter 1

Author's notes: This is a pre-game fanfic surrounding characters in the Japanese game _Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!._ They belong to iNiS, of course, and I just RP as Ryuuta occasionally. This started as a drabble that got way too long, so it became five chapters. Enjoy! And comment, as comments are yummy with ketchup. :3

Ryuuta Ippongi never had the best of luck growing up. To many, he looked like he was destined for failure at everything: he struggled in school, he fell in with the wrong crowd on numerous occasions, and had a notably short temper.

Nobody ever questioned why, just that he was a 'problem child' and it was left at that.

Ryuuta dropped out of school to help his father earn money, who had fallen into depression after his wife left him. It was next to impossible for a student to work a full time job, and when they collided too much he chose to help his father. He got into fights because he hated seeing bullies pick on those younger than them, and he would put himself on the line for anyone who needed it. His friends ended up sucking him into trouble, but it was due to that underlying desire to help everyone around him without worrying over what sort of trouble he could get into.

He tried. He really did.

Never one to believe in fate or anything of the sort, Ryuuta merely considered it to be an odd streak of luck. He finished his delivery and was on his way home, taking a short cut in between an alleyway on his way home. Bike riding was always tiring, and he abandoned it in favor of exhaustion, instead resorting to pushing the bike uphill.

i "Osu!" /i

The junior high student had no idea he was cutting around through the high school, and the loud shouts from nearby startled him. Curiousity eventually won over and he wheeled his bike closer to the field, watching with wide eyes.

Five boys and three girls clad in matching uniforms cheered and posed to loud music and piercing whistles. Ryuuta set his bike against the side of the fence that seperated him from the practice field, folding his arms and resting them and his chin on top of the fence as he watched.

He'd heard of the cheering squad, and how they went above and beyond to help people, but he never actually met any of them. He never needed help from someone, or from i anyone /i , that badly.

Ryuuta never would have guessed that they were in high school, having assumed them to be so much older, but there was still a pang of admiration all the same.

The alley between the buildings that lead him to the far end of the practice field became his chosen path every day for the next week, until finally he was spotted. Practice must have ended early, because soon the tallest, bulkiest member of the Yuuhi Ouendan was coming over to him. Startled, Ryuuta stepped away from the fence, nearly knocking over his bike in the process.

"Oy, kid." He replied gruffly, and for a moment the 'kid' with spikey red hair had no idea how to reply.

"..Y-Yes?" The junior high student had to tilt his head back to look up at the older student. He was I tall /i .

"Are you interested in joining the Ouendan?" The lumbering beast of a man replied, expression beyond intense. Ryuuta wondered if he ever smiled, or did anything but scowl hatefully at everything he looked at.

"I.. uhh.." Was he? He had become so interested in observing them, in watching their moves and their crisp gakurans and learning how they helped people, that the idea had crossed his mind. "I.. yeah, sure.."

The man stared down at him, sharp piercing gaze going right through him. Ryuuta tried to affix his own glare in return, trying to not look as intimidated as he felt. Height difference was painfully apparent, and Ryuuta felt like he was three feet tall. Regardless, the man eventually looked away, arms folded across his chest.

"There are tryouts next week." He replied, each word crisp and demanding of attention. "You think you're up for it?"

Ryuuta's heart skipped a beat at the inquiry, and he looked past the large burly man to peek at the other ouendan members as they wound down from practice. The music had been turned off, but he could hear them all talking excitedly over something.

Friends through a cause, with something to believe in.

The junior high student grinned widely. "I'll be there."


	2. Chapter 2

Ryuuta had told his father his intentions of trying out for the ouendan, and his father met his request with extreme anger. Why couldn't his son do something more productive? The spikey haired boy assumed it to be the alcohol talking, but regardless, he countered with seven sharp words:

"This is how I can i be /i somebody."

The next week was grueling. Practices were every day for a few hours, but Ryuuta continued to work every waking moment. Between that and work, he barely had time to sleep, but he pushed himself as hard as he could.

All the practice in the world could not make up for the nerves he felt at the end of the week. The day of the tryouts Ryuuta was in near panic, but he gave it his all.

Only one boy and one girl would be selected to be part of the Yuuhi ouendan. It was a long shot, but he would give it his all.

His tryout went, in his mind, disasterous. His voice had been ridden slightly hoarse due to him screaming so much through the past seven days, but he still yelled as loud as he can. He recalled the feelings that lingered in his chest from watching the Yuuhi Ouendan practice. The motivation was there, he just had to tap into it.

He screamed and punched and moved as sharply and as loudly as he could, letting his voice battle over the music as it blared and echoed around him.

i "Osu!" /i 

This lasted for a few minutes, until finally the music ended, and Ryuuta ended his cheer with his hands in military stance behind his back. The judges, who consisted of the two oldest members of the Ouendan: the tallest member who spoke to him at the field and a girl clad in a blue uniform with braided brown hair, as well as somebody else Ryuuta couldn't recognize.

"That will be all, Ippongi. Please wait outside." The gruff student dismissed him with a nod, and shakily Ryuuta bowed and scurried outside to wait in the hallway.

Time moved at an incredibly slow rate until the girl came outside, glancing around the hallway. There were not a lot of members around waiting, but they seemed to drag it out intentionally for whatever reason. One by one, the students who auditioned were called inside, and were soon sent out with disappointment. Ryuuta watched all of them, his stomach tying itself up into knots.

"Ryuuta Ippongi? Could you please enter the gym?" He almost missed the girl's soft voice as she called to him. He rose quickly and hurried inside, following after her. The judges spoke in hushed whispers as he stood in front of them, arms behind his back in the formal stance once more.

"We cannot accept you, Ippongi."

Ryuuta's heart sank. He could feel the sting of tears as they welled in his eyes. "But.. why not?" There was desperation teetering in his tone. He worked so hard for this. He wanted this so badly..

"You're not in school. You have to finish junior high to cheer with the high school ouendan."

Ryuuta swallowed sharply. "I.. I can do that! Please, let me.. I can graduate!" His hands removed themselves from his back and moved to his sides, clenched into fists. "I really want to be part of you guys! Please!"

The leader looked at him with that same intense disapproval he seemed to hold, but this time instead of faultering Ryuuta narrowed his eyes and glared right back. "If that's all that's in my way, then i dammit /i , I can do it! I want to prove myself to you guys!" He growled loudly though his teeth.

The judges fell hushed as they whispered to themselves, and Ryuuta could hear his heart pounding loudly in his chest. After a moment, the two seperated, and looked over at him quietly.

"Alright, Ippongi." The girl smiled. "Let's see what you got."


	3. Chapter 3

Ryuuta dropped his job and found another one, so he would have more time to return to school. It was difficult, but he managed to catch up as well as study hard for his entrance exams into high school. The effort on his part was immense: not being in school for so long made him lazy, but he survived. He showed the drive for it, demanding to be allowed to return to school, even when the administration initially refused.

There was also practice, too. Since there was time before graduation, Ryuuta was expected to attend every Ouendan practice. And he did, contributing all he could as well. Learning the cheers and routines and everything else was a bit overwhelming, but Ryuuta dealt because it was what he fought so hard for, and he was not going to give it up anytime soon.

The day he graduated and officially entered high school was a big victory for him, as it was also the day he received his official gakuran. The crisp black uniform hugged him perfectly, and Ryuuta could not help looking at his gloves in fascination, even while he tied the red bandana, marked with the Yuuhi logo on it in black, around his head.

His first mission left him nervous, but he was going to give it everything he got. He recalled every cheer his memory committed, and would assess the situation and counter with the best one. It would also be his first time i leading /i a cheer on his own.

Ryuuta knew he would not be alone, as Ittetsu and Atsushi would be accompanying him. That thought did not help minimize his jitters, though.

Making sure his headband was secure, Ryuuta turned, and pumped his fist into the air, as he hurried outside. "Ikusei!"


	4. Chapter 4

As important as his victories were to him (especially his first), Ryuuta did not let them get to his head. The rush was amazing, but ego did not factor into what he did. The pride he felt at helping people, of reuniting them or helping them accomplish what they initially thought was impossible, was what kept him going.

It was what Ryuuta wanted to do all along.

However, for as many big successes as he had, for as many people as he helped along the way, nothing stood out more to him than his first failed mission.

It happened a few months into his first year. His confidence rose sharply after his first mission, and that might have contributed to it. Maybe it was the wrong routine. Maybe the wrong music. Regardless, he could not keep up with his own cheering, and lost track of too many motions.

He failed, and because of that, someone's dreams were never achieved.

He returned to the school in a haze, moving quickly with no particular destination. The building was dark, but the gym was still opened so the Ouendan members could file in after their missions and settle down for one last report. He made his way to the locker room and leaned against the wall, removing the headband from his head, disrupting his spikey hair and clutched the bold red cloth to his chest. Tears stung at his eyes, and his chest ached with emotion contained inside: all he ever wanted to do was help people, not to make them i worse /i off.

"Ippongi." Hearing his name startled him, and he turned quickly, wiping his eyes on the back of his glove.

"H-Hai, Doumeki-san." He managed quietly, hiding the bandana behind his back as the lumbering form of his leader approached.

"...why are you in the dark?" The reply came after a quiet moment and despite no lights being on minus the thin rays from the moon, Ryuuta could still feel Kai's sharp and piercing gaze on him.

"I just got back." He replied, directing his face to the floor.

"How did it go?" Hearing Ryuuta's voice and seeing his slouched posture against the wall was more than enough for an answer when the freshman failed to answer Kai's question directly. The upperclassman frowned, walking close enough to set a heavy hand on Ryuuta's shoulder. "Ippongi.."

Despite the gentleness of the gesture, Ryuuta couldn't help but flinch anyway, shifting his eyes off to the side and away from Kai. "..why? Why couldn't I save him?" He paused, biting hard on the inside of his lower lip. No matter how hard he fought to contain his tears, what he considered weakness, around his leader, the more it bubbled at the surface.

Kai tried addressing him again with a sigh. "...Ippongi."

"...I joined up with the ouendan to save people." Ryuuta continued with a sob dying prematurely in his throat, not fully listening. "But.. if I can't even do that... then why am I here?"

Kai gave his shoulder a squeeze, adding a sharp edge to his name the third time. " i Ryuuta /i ."

The use of his given name made Ryuuta's eyes flick upward, his eyes wide and startled. Kai stared back, as impassive as ever, before he pulled Ryuuta away from the wall, and gave him a tight hug. As if his surprise wasn't enough, now it was tenfold. He was hesitant, at first, but eventually he allowed himself to cry in the leader's arms, clinging to his gakuran as he sobbed.

"You're not alone, Ippongi." Kai spoke, tone never changing despite the situation. Ryuuta managed to calm himself down enough: the urge to cry was significantly less, but it had rendered him exhausted. "All of us have the same burden to carry as you do."

"But.. you're so much stronger than I am, Doumeki-san." The freshman sniffled, releasing Kai's sleeves to clutch onto his own headband, keeping the fabric close to his chest. "You and the girls and everyone.."

"We worked hard. i All /i of us." Kai rubbed Ryuuta's back as he went on, and Ryuuta wondered how many rookies he had to comfort in such a way. Such a big, scary man.. "We all have our victories, and we all have our failures."

"But.. but I don't i want /i failures!" Ryuuta knew he was overemotional, as he had a history of having a short fuse to begin with and that followed shortly after, but he couldn't help that his voice rose a bit at his next exclamation. "I want to save i everybody /i !"

It must have been a trick of the shadows, but Ryuuta almost swore that Kai smiled at him. The expression was a brief flicker, before the heavy hug ended and a large hand mused Ryuuta's hair quickly as the leader parted and headed for the door.

"Then that is what you must work for, as we all do."


	5. Chapter 5

Two years passed since Ryuuta entered the Yuuhi Ouendan, as well as his days of being an insecure freshman. Now he was a junior, and after proving himself through numerous situations, the firey-headed squad leader. Kai stuck around, as president, and despite their history the two of them argued over a i lot /i . Kai was fierce and overpowering, but Ryuuta was the only one who would confront him without ever backing down.

The leader's firey personality was best shown by his hair, which he grew out over his time as an Ouendan and learned to style it in a hairstyle he deemed the most appropriate, for him and for all that he had accomplished: a stylized top knot, tied upward with the strands clumped and flaring on top of his head, the tallest 'flame' almost a foot upwards.

Ryuuta was an excellent leader: he was charismatic, he was loud, and he was energetic. Many thought he was insane, but that was up for interpretation.

One night, Ryuuta waited outside the gym for the other ouendan members to return from their patrols. It was getting late, and Ryuuta wanted to make sure everyone made it home safely.

The quiet of the evening was disrupted by what sounded like a muffled sob.

Ryuuta's dark eyes shifted over towards where he assumed it was coming from. His gut instinct was correct, as the sound progressively got louder, leading up to a thin boy seated on the bleachers that overlooked the practice field behind the high school.

The leader hesitated, studying what he could see of the figure. "...Tanaka? Is that you?"

The mousey boy jumped a bit at hearing his name, and initially all that responded was a sniffle. "..Yes, senpai. I'm sorry, I'll be in shortly."

Ryuuta's eyebrows narrowed in faint thought as he watched the freshman adjust his glasses, face hidden by shadows. After pressing his lips together, Ryuuta walked over and climbed up the bleachers to sit down next to him.

"...What's wrong, Hajime-kun?"

Hajime took a deep breath, eyes down towards the ground while he slumped forward, arms supporting him via his legs. He hadn't known Ryuuta for very long, but he knew that the leader, as intimidating as he was sometimes, rarely used titles to address people. There was a moment where the freshman had no idea how to respond, and kept his face towards the ground as tears rolled down his cheeks.

"..I.. failed." The quiet reply in the form of an audible sigh finally disrupted the silence. "I'm sorry, senpai."

Ryuuta blinked, head tilted as he watched Hajime through all this. "Hey.. you don't have to apologize, Hajime-kun. We all have failures. You just have to be sure that you don't lose focus of what you have to do."

"But.. but I don't want failures.." His voice raised a bit with emotion, glasses fogged from crying. "I want to save everyone, Ryuuta-senpai."

Ryuuta blinked slowly as an odd feeling of deja vu settled in his stomach. Suddenly, he was no longer looking at a young boy with a new set of responsibilities upon his shoulders.

He was looking at himself, as he stood not too long ago, struggling with the difficulties of being new in a team that gave everything to help complete strangers, without considering any drawbacks to it.

Ryuuta smiled and slid an arm around Hajime's shoulders, pulling him into a half embrace. "You're not alone, Hajime-kun. Don't ever think that you are, even now. We all carry the same burden you do."


End file.
